Saturday, March 26, 2005

No more heroes?

A Dutch newspaper writes that the times of the almighty and heroic CEOs are over. After the many accounting scandals and failed acquisitions much more attention is being given to the optimal length a CEO must stay 'in charge'.
One experience that's clearly evolved in the mean time is that the longer a CEO rules, the bigger the chance becomes he makes mistakes.
What are typical warning signs that the Chief Executive Officer is loosing it? Here's the top-10 list.
  1. Attends society events too often
  2. Talks a lot in public about higher purposes in life
  3. Is not happy with his rewards and keeps complaining about it
  4. Continuously replaces senior executives
  5. Accepts many side responsibilities
  6. Changes his wife for a younger girlfriend
  7. Is longing for a grand finale, such as a major acquisition
  8. Refuses to make succession plans
  9. Continuously wants to be in the spotlights
  10. Surrounds himself with mediocre yes-men.

Multiple and combined occurrences of these 10 are particularly worrisome and you are well advised to sell your stocks as soon as possible.

What do you think, is this a typical Dutch story (never like people who stand out anyway) or is the heroic CEO coming to a global end? Drop a comment!

1 Comments:

Blogger Edwin Sim said...

From my experience in Thailand, I hear alarm bells when the CEO:

1. Continuously replaces senior executives
2. Refuses to make succession plans
3. Surrounds himself with mediocre yes-men.

When the bell rings, it is time for the board of directors to take serious action.

8:04 PM  

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